John McCain believes “that taxes should be low, simple, and fair and has a track record of commitment to these principles.”

 

Know how I know that?  It’s on his website.

 

Ron Paul believes that “Our nation’s promise to its seniors, once considered a sacred trust, has become little more than a tool for politicians to scare retirees while robbing them of their promised benefits. Today, the Social Security system is broke and broken.”

 

Know How I know that?  It’s on his website.

 

Barack Obama on No Child Left Behind Left the Money Behind: The goal of the law was the right one, but unfulfilled funding promises, inadequate implementation by the Education Department and shortcomings in the design of the law itself have limited its effectiveness and undercut its support. As a result, the law has failed to provide high-quality teachers in every classroom and failed to adequately support and pay those teachers.

Know How I know that?  It’s on his website.

Welcome to the 21st century.  It’s an election year and there are like hundreds of  people running for President.  Above is just a sample of people currently vying for our votes.

In the past when America had to decide it’s Presidents we had limited resources and exposure.  We could read newspapers and listen to people’s opinions.  Even with the invention of Television our exposure to the candidates has been limited and instead of listening to the candidates we were listening to “experts” opinions on the candidates.

Now we have the wonderful, beautiful Internet to expose us to our candidates.  In 2008 no one should be undecided or unsure about whom they are voting for.  Simply access everyone’s website and check out what they say on the issues important to you. 

If your hot button is Immigration then each candidate has in their own words their stance on immigration.  If you want to know their take on the war on Iraq then simply look at each person’s stance. 

If you need more information then there are tons of partisan and non-partisan websites for you to look at.  Truthandpolitics.org dissects what each politician says and in a non-partisan way looks at the truthfulness of the statements. 

Looking to chat with your fellow Americans on issues of politics. Then look up craigslist.org and go to their politics section and you can read what your neighbors are saying at any given time. 

You can even access youtube.com and see videotape of candidates giving public addresses and interacting privately with supporters.

Candidates have embraced the internet for all the positives it brings to their campaign but they are still careful not to be caught doing or saying something that they don’t want the whole world to see (no nose picking in public Mr or Mrs. Future President.)

Most political campaigns today have an “Internet strategy” of one sort or another. The smashing of online fundraising records, bloggers who broke stories of international importance, citizen-journalism institutions that moved elections, new voters lured into the political fray through cool online campaigns-within-a-campaign – the election cycles in the last few years in the United States and elsewhere around the world have given rise to headlines and head-spinning about the power of the Internet to transform political action.

the Internet can help campaign organizers do better some of the core tasks of campaigning, such as fundraising, communicating with supporters, coordinating events in the field, organizing crowds in fast-breaking situations, and reacting quickly to breaking news. The Internet works best in a situation where it's combined with, and used to leverage, the most important traditional, often face-to-face, political activities.

Also the Internet provides tools that empower an individual to have a greater level of participation in the political process, if that person is already pre-disposed to be active in civic life. That highly-empowered individual, along with her peers, might create a personal news operation that could put huge pressure on mainstream news providers, offer alternative viewpoints, gain access to far more information than ever before, and reach a global audience on a shoestring budget.

So this year get more involved in your online community and get to know the candidates before casting your vote. 

For more information visit such sites like

www.Moveon.org

www.Craigslist.org

www.Truthandpolitics.org

Or call your local SeniorNet at (512) 451-4611 and ask them to host a class on the Internt and Politics.